Jeans for a big butt, Levis 529

People who know me know I can't buy jeans. They just don't fit my body. I usually have to order custom made jeans to get them to fit. If you consider going from a size 2 to a size 4 one size jump, my waist is 2-3 sizes smaller then my butt. If that weren't enough, I carry all of that in the back and most jeans are built with extra tummy room. I also have a slight sway in my back. I bought some clearance jeans that (mostly) fit me a few days ago. Part of the reason these particular jeans fit is they are sewn wrong. I tried on the non clearance version at Kohls, and they didn't fit (or I would have bought one in every color).
Levis fit 529 is a good jean to try if you have a large butt. The fit higher in the back (a few inches below the natural waist), but are still lower in the front (two inches below the belly button). This way they look normal from the front, but have no back gap. The pair I bought is still two inches too large in the waist, but the waist band lays toward my body instead of away from it. They are cut fuller in the hip and have boot cut legs. Boot cut is good for curvy girls. I think they are worth trying on if you have problems with back gap.
*Update
The front pockets in these jeans are only about 2 inches deep. I have no idea why they did that. If you are deciding between two sizes, pick the smaller size. The jeans stretch out very quickly. Once the butt stretches out, if the waist is still a bit too big the will fall and bag. Mine stretch out on the first wearing, and must be washed to return to the original shape.

How to Apply Bronzer

I suspect many of you are like I was. You are slightly confused about where to apply bronzer. Allure magazine had a bronzer tutorial a few months ago. Here is the video that went with that tutorial. I'll sum up the video below, in case you just want to be reminded of the basics.

1. Choose a bronzer that matches your skin tone (light, medium, dark). Choose a matte bronzer with yellow tones. Avoid pink bronzers and shimmery bronzers. It should look slightly darker then your jawline when applied.
2. Apply foundation and concealer as usual. Apply a moisturizer or tinted moisturizer if you had dry skin (before foundation). Apply powder if you have oily skin.
3. Use a medium sized brush to apply bronzer. Dip the brush and tap off excess. Apply along your jawline and hairline using tight, circular motions. Move from the outsides of your face to the center. Wherever your start will apply more color then where you finish.
4. Add more bronzer to your brush and tap. Sweep bronzer on your cheekbones and down the nose. Skim your forehead, chin, and neck. Tap brush to remove excess powder then use brush to blend with swirling motions where needed.
5. Apply blush to the apples of your cheeks. Start the circle on the outside of the apple so the most color is just outside your eye, and not right below your iris. Add just a touch to the center of your forehead, tip of the nose, and chin to balance the blush. Choose matte blush for day and shimmer (optional) for night. Choose a pink blush, not a peach. Peach blush can make the bronzer look orange. Use a brown eye liner instead of black. Pick gold or bronze eye shadow. Choose a sheer nude or light pink lip gloss.

Help finding make-up

Looking for a new moisturizer, conditioner,or maybe a new lipstick? Here are some links that might help.

Allure Magazine's readers choice awards. Readers voted on make-up in all categories. They had separate categories for drugstore and department store in all categories. They also suggest specific shades for all the products. There are also categories for pale and bright nail polish. I personally love MAC eyeshadow and HIP eyeshadow (I haven't tried the specific colors suggested).

Paula Begoun, The Cosmetic Cop, was on Oprah last week and suggested specific products (not colors) in all categories. In general, there are drugstore and department store make-up and hair products recommendations in each category. Here is another site that has her reviews. Many of the reviews on this site are not as up to date. She also has this link that has facts about sunblock and, at the bottom of the page, has suggestions for products that have sunscreen. It suggest make-up, moisturizer, lip balm, etc.

The Beer Barge

The Beer Barge, A.K.A beverage barge, is my new favorite thing. I found this tutorial on instructibles on how to make a beer barge from a fun noodle (one of those long tubes kids float on). Hollow it out with a knife, a little hot glue and you're practically done. Make sure your noodle is bigger then a can. Mine barely was. I made a longer and taller one for bottles. I used plastic knives for supports rather then Popsicle sticks (as done in instructables). Mine will be floating in a lake with green stuff growing on the bottom, not in a chlorinated pool, so I thought it was wise. I haven't tested it in the wind, but it works well with a breeze. One noodle makes about 4 barges. I plan to tie it to the floatie a better way some day when I've planned ahead.

Rocker Girl Make-up Look

For this look, you want a muted lip color. A bright lip will be too strong with a dark eye. Any bright eye shadow color will do. I used a bright green. Allure used a metallic turquoise blue. H.I.P. makes nice eye shadows. They sell many bright colors and should have something good for this look. My hair and make-up looked better in person. Taking pictures of hair and make-up is not easy.
Optional, apply a nude eye shadow base all over eye area. This helps eye shadow colors apply truer and last longer.
Apply a bright shadow between lashes and crease.
Apply black into the crease of your eye.
Blend.
Line eyes in black eyeliner.
Smudge out eye liner with an angle brush and black eye shadow.
Apply mascara.

Products Used
Lipstick: Loreal Infallible. The color has been discontinued.
Eye Shadow Base: Loreal H.I.P cream shadow paint in #807 Secretive(drugstore)
It is NOT Mac as stated repeatedly in the video. However, I've used Mac paint and I like that too.
Eye Shadow: Mac Humid (green) (MAC is in department stores and online)
Note: MAC has free shipping 7/20/09-7/24/09)
Mac Smut (black)
Hair Wax: FX molding wax (drugstore)

Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser for Normal to Oily Skin Review

Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser for Normal to Oily Skin Review
My skin type: Normal.

My rating: 5 sit and spins




What I like about it: I've used this for years and years. It does exactly what a cleanser should. It cleans your skin without drying it. It isn't expensive and the container lasts a long time.
What I hate about it: Nothing comes to mind.
Be careful not to buy: Don't buy the cleanser for normal to dry skin, unless your skin is very dry. Then it will be very good. The normal to dry skin version does not remove make-up as well as the normal to oily version. The normal to oily version doesn't dry your skin, so it should be good for most people. My sister tried the target store brand version of the Cetaphil normal to oily and did not like it.

People will try to tell you you need fancy things in your cleansers like antioxidants and Alpha and beta hydroxy acids. Bologna. Cleanser is only on you face for about 15 seconds. Those ingredients can't do anything in that amount of time besides get into your eyes. If something actually could work in a few seconds, then it should probably be applied by a professional in a doctors office and not trusted to the likes of you and me. Antioxidants and beta and alpha hydroxy acids are great ingredients for things that will stay on your face like serums and moisturizers. They are stupid in cleansers. Save your money on cleansers. Basic is better.
Cetaphil is good for people with sensitive skin. It's a basic cleanser without added ingredients to irritate your skin.

This should work well for everyone who doesn't have very dry or very oily skin. I highly recommend it.

Olay Pro X

Have you been wondering about Olay Pro X products after the new commercials aired claiming it works better then prescription products? Here is what the cosmetic cop had to say: (she's kind of a consumer reports for make-up)
In short, she says the products are good, but not worth the money. If you still want to buy them, here is a coupon for 20$ off a 50$ purchase of Olay products. If you buy Pro X products, you should reach the 50$ mark in no time.

Outlast Lipstain Review

Outlast Lipstain Review

What I look for in a lipstick: Long lasting. I hate to reapply.
My experience with this type of product: I've tried a lot of stay-on lipsticks.

My rating: 1 sit and spin




Would I buy this again? No.
What I like about it: Not much. The red color is nice.
What I hate about it: It's not lasting. It goes on way too bold for my taste. It has a drying feel, and I usually don't care about lipstick texture at all. If your lips are even the least bit dry, the dry part sucks up the color and highlights the dry areas.

As I say in the video, I applied the lipstick in the top right picture with a lip brush, to get a lighter look. I find it wearable that way, but time consuming to put on. In the bottom left it is applied as directed, and is in my opinion, way too bold. It's hard to tell on camera, but it shows up more in real life. Side note: My hair was in the process of air drying.

Mod Podge Cloth Covered Table

This table was done by my sister Julie. Below is the before shot. Here's what Julie had to say about it:

The table with fabric on it is covered in hard coat mod podge so you can wipe it off. I spray painted the bottom of the table white. The chairs are from a used store. I recovered the chairs in yellow fabric with little white flowers in a diamond pattern. I also covered these with mod podge (the regular kind) so I can wipe them off. The chairs had ugly orange vinyl on them when I bought them. I think that any schmo can use mod podge on fabric (aka like painting with glue). The table was easy, but time consuming. I had to put on so many layers of the hard coat mod podge & sand in between each layer.

Julie also told me the hard coat mod podge has to cure for 4 weeks before you can use it. She's been setting things on the table, but isn't planning a spaghetti dinner any time soon. She got her hard coat mod podge online, but she has also seen it at Hobby Lobby and JoAnns. I love the results. Modern and inviting at the same time. Julie has a gift for decorating. She does a lot of trash to treasure style decorating. I hope to show you more of her stuff in the future.

Camping Packing List

No I don't lug all this stuff. But I listed most of the stuff I think you might want to bring.

Fire
Wood
Twigs (if you're camping in ND without trees)
Newspaper
Lighter fluid
Axe, Hatchet, Saw
Bucket (extinguishing fire)
Shovel (extinguishing fire)
Marshmallow roasting sticks
Sandwich iron for grilled cheese and turnovers and such
the clicker, fire starter, what is that thing called anyway?
Chairs
Cigar (I can hear my sister saying gross as she reads this)

Tent
tent
stakes
tarp (for over tent in Alaska, for inside tent in ND)
Inflatable mattress
sleeping bags
pillow
pillow case you don't particularly care about
flashlight
extra batteries for flashlight (especially if you take a small child)
lantern

Cooking equipment
Grill
Propane and extra propane
charcoal
charcoal chimney
Spatula
Camp Stove
Oven Mitt
Pots and Pans
Coffee pot
Coffee
Tea bags
Hot cocoa mix
Aluminum Foil
Spices (garlic pepper is good for most situations. Garlic, pepper and salt mix)
bowl for mixing
Bucket for hauling water
can opener
knives
cutting board
measuring equipment
peeler
silverware
plates,cups, bowls
paper towels
Styrofoam cups for cocoa and coffee
garbage bags
dishcloth and towels
sanitary water for washing
scrubbing pads
storage containers
table cloth
dish soap
napkins
condiments
wet naps for cleaning hands etc.
Purell
way to hide food from bears and animals

Campsite General
Clothes line and clothes pins (wet towels and such)
extra rope and bungee cords for stuff
scissors for rope and stuff
Games such as Norwegian Golf or volley ball
frisbee

Clothes
sweat Shirt
Fleece shirt
Long sleeve shirt
Jeans
socks
Tennis Shoes
Short sleeve shirt
underwear
bra
shorts
tank top
something to wear to sleep
swimsuit and hat

Swimming
Hat
Swim Suit
Swim Suit Cover Up
Sunglasses (preferably floaters)
bottle opener for beer
Big T-shirt to swim in case of sunburn
flip flops
water shoes
towel
floatie
Pump for floatie
beverage barge
rope to tie floatie to shore
stake to tie rope to (or one of those things you twist in for dogs)
Can coozie
magazines or book (or cookbook if you're weird like me)
sun block
continuous spray sunblock for the middle of your back
chap stick or lip gloss with sun block
skintastic style bug spray
Deep woods style bug spray
Comb for wet hair
pony tail holder
Chair
Water and sand toys

Personal Items
Prescription Medication
Over the Counter Medication
Brush and Comb
Razor and Shaving Cream
Tooth Brush
Tooth Paste
Feminine Hygiene Products
Mirror
Toilet Paper
Towel and Washcloth
Baby Wipes
Contact Case and solution
Glasses and Case
shampoo/conditioner
soap
extra bathroom towel

Miscellaneous
Camera (with a charged battery)
Extra batteries or extra memory cards
first aid kit
musical instrument
pocket knife
extra batteries for kids toys and such
bikes
car charger for phone

Dog
Dog food
Treats
Bowl for water
walking leash
Long leash
screw in dog tie down to attach leash
towel for dog (you don't want wet dogs in the car)
Dog bed
Kennel
Ball for fetching or other toys

See also my post on Lora's recipes on s'mores variations.

Sit and Spin

When I was a kid I wanted a Sit and Spin. I mean REALLY wanted a Sit and Spin. When I would go over to my friend's houses, I'd ask "Do you have a sit and spin?" Then hours would pass and my friend would say "Let's play something else now." Nope. There was no other play to be had as long as a sit and spin was available.
Now I've been telling the story for many years about how I always wanted a sit and spin and never got one because my mom thought I would get sick from all the spinning. I mean really... Adults always say stuff like that. What kid ever gets sick from spinning? (O.K. Some kids do, but it's rare.) The Sit and Spin story has been told in perpetuity. In fact I told the story so many times that my Mom wants to smack me.
Mom's side of the story: "If I knew you wanted a Sit and Spin so badly, I would have bought you one. I just thought you'd get sick."
I do realize this mom. I also admit that as a 5 year old I may not have communicated my wants and needs so eloquently. You are off the hook. You were never really on the hook. But, the story is not funny without blaming you.
Cut to my 38th birthday last week. (I know, I don't look a day over 21.) My sister Julie tells me to close my eyes. When it's time to open them I see this.

Yeah, that's right. My own "Pimp my ride" version of a Sit and Spin. I know, you're totally jealous. This Sit and Spin was salvaged from a neighbors junk pile on clean-up week. Before it hit the junk pile, it had been sitting in their back yard for years. "What is the best way to clean it?" you ask. Car wash. The answer is car wash. My brother-in-law tells me you can really get that sucker spinning when you spray the water directly at it. After it was clean, Julie found this picture of me to mod podge to the top. Why am I making that face? I was holding a baby. Shut up. I bet there are pictures floating around of you with a crazy face because a baby is in the vicinity. The picture, where I'm wearing a Vikings jersey, suggested a Minnesota Vikings theme. She used some more mod podge and viola. A custom Minnesota Vikings Sit and Spin.
Did I spend the day spinning? Well, let me tell you, getting onto a Sit and Spin is no easy feat as an adult. It takes maneuvering. Also, I weigh a pound or two more then I did when I was five. Now the sit and spin scrapes on the ground and doesn't spin so well. My sister points out that the ball barrings aren't new. Yep. I'm sure it's the ball barrings. In the end, it's probably good that it doesn't spin for me. Because if it did spin, I'd get sick.
What did we learn?
1. Mom was right. (as usual)
2. Dreams really do come true.
3. Even filthy toys can be cleaned.